Pregame meeting and aftermath
 

Girls varsity game, as a crew we agree if there is half court traps at the division line on C's sideline, we are making an automatic rotation to put the C as the new trail.

Second quarter, we've been seeing half court traps all night and we're holding true to the pregame.

The R for the game is the C and a trap comes to his side, division line. I'm the L, so I move over quickly across the lane. Now he should be the L. There a good trap up there, and I have no action really in front of me (couple of players but no one is doing much of anything), the ball gets tipped and then stolen. The new Trail doesn't realize he's the new lead.

I'm hauling *** up the court yelling at him,"keep moving (insert name), keep moving (insert name)." He doesn't, and the opposite C for whatever reason goes to the new lead position. So we're screwed. We got an L on the opposite side, a C and Trail on the same side. I'm the only one who is where they should be.

At halftime the R tells me let's try to just "fill in" if that happens again and don't yell to someone that they should keep going cause now everyone knows we screwed up.

Help please...how could I have handled better. I can think of no way for me to "fill in".

If you know he did not recognize the rotation, then fill in. Not everything you talk about in a pre-game can be executed very well all the time by many officials. I would not sweat it. Some people do not like their name to be called in that situation.

Peace

The bottom line is that as the L, you initiated a rotation that the the T did not pick up on. He should had become the new L, but since he didn't, the C kept moving to pick up the end line....He recognized what was going on. At least you weren't in the "I" formation. :eek:
In your case, as soon as you crossed mid-court and realized your R wasn't gonna budge, you could moved laterally to the T position on the opposite side....It may be ugly, but at least you would've had proper coverage....
No one would notice this except an official. These things happen....But hopefully only rarely.

Thanks.

How do I fill in for the above play? Go across the division line to the opposite sideline?

The C, who should have been the L, wasn't moving. The L, who should have been the C, was on the baseline.

If I make a late rotation for whatever reason and NEITHER of my partners catch it then I will fill in.

It's easier for me to go ahead and adjust than it is two get the attention of two other people and make both of them adjust.

Not sure what you mean by "no way for you to fill in." Just walk to the other side of the court and get it done if thats what the situation needs.

I understand you saying you are the "only one where (they) should be." But if two other people are on the same page and you are NOT then sometimes it's just easier to turn to their page.

Gotcha, that makes sense.

This happens even when you do not discuss a situation before the game. What I normally do is go down the center and wait for who goes to the end line and go to that side. This happens sometimes more when a official is "on ball" heavy. This is why when you rotate late, you should correct it if possible. What can helps is close down and make a rotation at the proper time, this will limit the times it happens.

Peace

I actually felt I rotated quickly and was even out wide by the time the ball was stolen. So I was probably there for 2 or 3 seconds. But even so, I like what you say to help our team correct it. I didn't do that and that would have looked a lot better.

Thanks guys, great comments

It does not always happen you rotate late, just the most common time in my experience. And a play like you described, the officials is probably so focused on covering the play, he does not even know you moved to his side of the court. Then again there are officials that cannot chew and walk at the same time either, so it happens. ;)

Peace

Most definitely you should say his name. 99.99% of people wouldn't hear what the refs said to each other. But officials do need to communicate, so give him a 1-chance with your voice, then fill in to T on the opposite when you see everything developing as you describe.

Think about it this way.

Doesn't it make more sense for the 1 official to move, who realizes what happened, as opposed to expecting the 2 who don't realize what happened to move? :)

Sometimes, it's a numbers game
 

Quote - VaTerp : But if two other people are on the same page and you are NOT then sometimes it's just easier to turn to their page.

As the marching band goes by, the proud mother shouts out, "Look at my boy! He's the only one in step!.";)

Exactly. I'd even say that good game awareness means you'd pick up on your partners not rotating and that you'd fill in by crossing over.

It happens, even at the highest levels. I'm a men's season ticket holder at Wisconsin and I've seen the trail cross over twice in the last year. I guarantee few people notice.

And, just to restate what others have said, you should be anywhere near the frontcourt when you make the adjustment. If you see it happening or even maybe happening, hedge by going down the middle and once it is clear who is going to lead, veer towards thier side. You can usually figure it out by the time you make it to the top of the key.

This is exactly what I was going to say, doggonit. You say you were on the C's side of court for 2-3 seconds before the turnover. That's a long time and you obviously recognized that the rotation hadn't been completed.

So once the transition starts, since you KNOW that you partner is unaware that he should be Lead, "hedge" by staying closer to the middle of the court. That way, when you see the "wrong" official taking the Lead position, it's very easy to slide to that sideline.

And I know this is not a big deal to a lot of people but. . .

He wasn't on the baseline. The baseline is on the backboard. He was on the end line.